Hope
by 0xhe
Summary: With Mumm-Ra defeated and Thundera rebuilt, there is only one void in a world of relative peace: someone to wield the sword of omens.


Disclaimer: The thundercats belong to their creators, everything else here is from the big noggin' of mine. Please don't sue, I do this just for fun!

This is just my first attempt at fan fiction of any kind. Reviews and Comments will be appreciated, thanks!

**Hope**

Part I

1. A Scrawny Little Cat

The sky reflected his mood. Murky and dark. There stood the young cat, tinkering with some junk that was laid on his desk that morning. Frustrated with himself, he threw the metal disk on the floor with disgust.

"If only I had some money! I don't have to deal with the crap people throw at me! Who do they think I am? A Sorcerer who can make some hundred year old junk work like new?"

Too true. He was after all a mechanic, who can work within the laws of science to mend things that broke. This was all he had known in his life, fixing broken junk.

He had picked up some knowledge about tech from an old lizard who had cared for him until he died. He'd been an orphan all his 18 years of life. His mother had died giving birth to him. He never knew his father. The old lizard had told him that he had "picked him up" when he was "put up for sale" but hadn't the heart to hurt him.

Slave trading was common where he lived, Serathonga the noble marble city. The irony was that it was neither noble nor a city. Just a meeting place for animals of all kinds and professions: traders, smiths, mechanics, bounty hunters, builders-looking for cheap marble. That was the one thing right about the city, it produced cheap, good marble. Dignitaries from many provinces across third earth came looking for marble to decorate their halls and shine their brothels.

For all its commotion the city was but a speck of dust in the world he knew as third earth. And of that he knew little but the name, for he had seldom left his workshop, let alone the city.

His workshop was a curious place. While there were many things there, most were not his. His work was good and he had a good name in the city. He stocked up on repair orders going to weeks because, well, as he said to himself, "make hay while the sun shines right?" His possessions in that shop could be counted with one hand: a woolen coat to combat cold, a pair of boots that he had bought a year earlier, a little satchel that was used to keep coins, a bag with a pair of change clothes and a dagger that was left by his old lizard.

Thinking about the old lizard led him to fond memories. He had loved him despite the fact that their species had been at perpetual war.

Sighing, he closed the door to his workshop: his day had been satisfactory, he would get payment tomorrow morning when he returned the working "thundrillium powered field generator" back to the owner.

The sky again began reflecting his mood as the clouds dispersed to the shining red of the setting Sun. He walked briskly to the river flowing near the forest: Seras was magnificent. One of his earliest memories had been trying to catch fish with hands. He had to anticipate where the fish would be and aim his hands accordingly. That simple lesson from the old lizard had taught him to notice the change and move with it.

A pale red haired cat made faces at him with a gleam in its soggy blue eyes. He was thin for his age, for all the satisfactory money he did make, he didn't always get the time to have a good brunch or supper. Splashing the clear water in his face had been refreshing, as had been hearing the the birds' chirping on the trees. While he did lament his lack of wealth, he found his happiness in these simple pleasures.

Walking back towards his workshop, he opened the door quietly when he heard his name being called: "Leo!". He turned back towards the direction from which the shout had come and saw the land-lord smiling at him: _"a bit unusual,"_ he thought: _"maybe time for another free repair?"_

The middle-aged rabbit, caught his hand and shook them fiercely. A bit taken aback, he just stared. The rabbit, said: "Congratulations lad! You have been summoned by the Steward of Thundera! You will get excellent business there, being a cat!"

He was beyond confused now, he was lost. _"Thundera? Why? And what did it have to do with me being a cat?."_ He asked the good natured rabbit: "Sir, can you come from the beginning?"

"I'd been to Thundera for selling some white marble to Lord Bengali, of the house of Thundera. He lamented to me that their thundrillium powered weaponry had been causing some problems and their General was getting too old to fix them himself. So, I recommended you and he recommended you to the Steward, who has given the summons for you in two days".

"Two days!", Leo exclaimed in shock. The rabbit merely smirked, "It would take you two days to get there. There is a caravan with a load of marbles leaving tonight, so why don't you hop in and get a free ride?"

"But what about the orders!"

"They can wait lad, you don't say no, when lady luck comes home and invites you out for dinner!"

2. On a City of Dreams

Leo was asleep when the caravan reached Thundera at night. As they reached the gates, they were stopped by the guards and were questioned. The driver told them that he has a load of marble requested by Lord Bengali. One of the guards, noting the other passenger tapped on his shoulders. Leo woke up with a jerk and answered them that he had a summons from the Steward tomorrow. The guard looked at him curiously and asked him to lift his hood so they can get a good look at his face.

He did as requested and immediately noted the amazement in their faces. "You are a Lion!," the guard who had awoken him exclaimed with fear. The other guard hushed him and immediately allowed them to pass. Leo however was pre-occupied with the surroundings to dwell much on their reactions.

_This_ was a city! He would never call Serathonga a city again. To say that the city was beautiful was an understatement. It was breath-taking. The pavements and pathways were embellished with the finest marble he'd seen in Serathonga. The archways and buildings appeared to be made of high-quality sandstone and burnt bricks. While he marveled at the magnificence of the city, he couldn't help but notice the dual nature in the city's buildings. Many of them looked not older than a couple of decades but a few here and there looked much older.

Another curious thing about the city was that there were cats everywhere. He did see a stray dog or rabbit but for the most part and all of the guards were cats. Now, his land-lord's comment made sense to him. _"So, this is a city dominated by cats"._

The driver informed him that the caravan was going to the royal palace and he was free to leave anytime he wished. Not wanting to get lost, Leo decided to stay with the caravan and report at the palace. As they travelled in the steeping road to the palace he noticed the large statue of a cat holding a curious looking sword. For some reason he was unable to take his eyes off the cat.

Once they reached the palace main gate, he bid his thanks to the driver and approached the guard at the gate. She looked at him curiously and when he explained his reason to be there, she asked him to follow her. He was led into the palace towards a building separated from the rest of the palace that appeared to be the guest chambers. He was given a room and was taken to the kitchen for dinner. He found the food interesting as well as the amount that was served. The female guard who was eating with him gave him a disapproving glance as he found himself unable to eat more than a half of what was served. Bidding her thanks, he went to his quarters and fell into a peaceful sleep.

3. Knowing Kin Unknown

Leo woke up with panic for he had slept more than usual due to exhaustion of the journey. It took him less than an hour to take a bath and make himself presentable. He left his coat along with his bag of clothes at the guest room and re-traced the path to the palace entrance.

As he was nearing the palace gate, he felt a hand on his shoulders. As he turned, he saw a girl around his age evaluating him curiously. She was a tiger evidently, but he also saw blond locks flowing-probably-till her waist. _"Was everything in this city breath-taking?"_

"Who are you?", he was shaken off his reverie and was blushing deeply.

"I uh.. My name is Leo. I'm a mechanic from Serathonga. I was to answer summons from the Steward"

She was still evaluating him. "Curious name, my Father would want to talk to you at once, I suppose. He's at his study. Come with me, I'll take you to him."

_"So her Father is the Steward. Spooking the Steward's daughter.. nice way to start Leo"._

He was led into a curious looking doorway. The guards noting her asked no questions and opened the door leading to another hallway. At the end of the hallway he saw a door with no guards. She stopped before the door and bid him to stay there while she entered the door.

He occupied himself by looking at the curious patterns in the ceilings and the curving frames of the door. He was taken aback when the door jerked open suddenly and out came a tiger and a cheetah. They both appeared to be middle aged and it was obvious that they were the parents of the girl. They were eyeing him curiously. Remembering his manners, he bowed quickly and greeted them both.

"Greetings My Lord, My Lady, I'm Leo from Serathonga"

They were still looking at him. Unsure of what to do, He continued:

"I was summoned to work on the Thundrillium powered weaponry.."

Then the cheetah let out a slight chuckle as the tiger looked at him with a little smirk playing at the end of his lips. Leo didn't dare to look at the girl in front of her parents, if he'd done he would have seen the warm smile that was playing on her lips.

The Steward broke the silence with a mischievous smile, "After breakfast, accompany us to the court Leo, there we'll talk about more serious weaponry."

He turned towards his daughter, "Tirana, take him to the kitchen for breakfast and make sure he doesn't get into trouble while we get ready, today's gonna be fun."

Tirana smirked at her father and nodded. Leo saw the royal couple smile and leave. His head was swirling and he was confused to say the least.

"Come, let's go have some food, we aren't likely to have any before the court session ends."

Snapped out of his reverie, again, Leo nodded and tamely followed her into the kitchen.

4. Wielding the Eye

The breakfast was quick and he was met with curious stares on his way out of the kitchen. He followed Tirana to the court. The court was the biggest room Leo had ever seen. There was the curious symbol of a roaring cat that was worn by the guards, painted on the wall facing the audience. There were three chairs in the middle of the podium and the steward sat in the one on the left end and his wife on the one on the right end. The one in the middle was empty. Tirana led him to a small room (relatively) adjoining the podium.

"We'll be waiting here for a while, the fun comes at last," she said smirking.

Leo had played along dumb until now, but he just had to know the answers to some questions at-least. _"Why was he asked to come to the court", "Where/When will he begin working?", "Why was the treatment so curious?", "Why were people staring at him differently?"_ He debated the wisdom of questioning the daughter of the Steward.

Eventually, his curiosity got the better of him and he looked meaningfully at Tirana. She met his eye and blushed a little, but not as much as he did. Shaking his head a bit he asked, "Forgive my curiosity, but what use can I be of at the court? I would like to see the weaponry and try my best to fix it so I can leave as soon as possible."

She stared at him struggling with herself to control her mirth. "Well that's why you are here. The weapon is _the_ deadliest weapon on the planet and It wouldn't work without a necessary.. _ingredient_ ..and you are here to fix it. It has to be unveiled at the court."

A silence fell between them as he listened to court proceedings. His eyes lit up a little at the mention of Lord Bengali's name but the proceedings were mostly about trade arrangements and taxes. About an hour later the general public were dismissed and only the lords of the house of Thundera were bid to stay.

He heard the Steward's voice loud. "Dear friends, today you are going to witness something, something I suspect would bring us great joy, but it may also bring us disappointment. After Nineteen years since the death of our King and my brother, when he defeated our greatest foe and sacrificed his life for us, we get to see the Sword of Omens and the Gauntlet of the King."

The Steward continued: "Now, I would like to present someone to you.. Leo!"

Tirana nudged him. "Go!"

Leo walked hesitantly towards the main hall where the Steward was standing, he felt the eyes of the court upon him. He felt people gasping. He felt butterflies in his stomach and didn't dare to look at the court members. Instead he turned his gaze to the sword and the gauntlet, _"did he willingly turn to it or was something drawing him to it?"_

Tirana's mother came forward, gently took the gauntlet with the sword resting on it and beckoned Leo to come near her. Leo hesitated a bit and went near her. She looked at him, assessing his willingness: "Your destiny calls, take the sword!"

Leo never knew how he ever did what he did. Somehow his hands grabbed the hilt of the sword and pulled it out of the gauntlet. Something happened to the sword at that point. The center of the hilt of the sword which until then had appeared a passive red, suddenly turned into an eye. It woke up before his eyes and he felt a blueish aura surrounding him. Something inside his heart beckoned him to say the words aloud: "Thunder, Thunder, Thunder," There were gasps among the lords, all of them were out of their seats. He never noticed as he was concentrating on the sword which had grown to thrice it's initial size. Something gave inside him as he lifted the blade over his head and aligned his eyes to the hilt of the blade. "Thundercats, HO!"


End file.
